An Afternoon Detention
by JacksonFrost
Summary: Rose Weasley is shocked to see that she is sharing her detention with Scorpius Malfoy. The two have a past generation grudge to uphold, but everything doesn't turn out how they thought it would. One-Shot.


**Author's Note:** This is for the Inter-House Relationship challenge! I've never written Next-gen characters before, so I don't know how well I did, but enjoy!

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**An Afternoon Detention**

Rose stomped through the doorway of the dark, unwelcoming Potions room.

"Professor Zabini?" she called, dropping her satchel at a desk. "It's Rose Weasley!"

"Clearly, he's not here," drawled a deep voice, stepping out from inside the storage cabinets.

Rose cringed. It was Scorpius. She rolled her eyes at him. "Well, where is he? I need to see him."

Scorpius shrugged, disinterested. "Dunno."

Rose sat down, pulling on a strand of her wiry red hair. Why was Scorpius hanging around in an empty Potions room, anyway? She didn't know the lanky Slytherin very well (She was a Gryffindor for Merlin's sake!), but she knew of his reputation, and he didn't seem like a stand-up guy. Besides, her father hated his father, and Rose felt as if it was her duty to uphold the Weasley side of the old grudge.

Scorpius certainly didn't seem to mind holding up the Malfoy side, anyway. He was studiously avoiding looking at her, an expression of distaste clouding his angular face. He was probably just like his father, who was apparently a real prat.

Just as the silence was dragging on long enough to be considered awkward, Professor Zabini came into the room, looking bored. "Oh," he said flatly as he saw the two third-years sitting. "You're both here. Your task today will be _quite_ exciting." He snorted.

Scorpius frowned. "Wait, sir, why is _she_ here? I'm not here with her, am I?"

Rose's eyes widened in horror. "What? He's here with me?"

Zabini sneered at them. "You're both in detention, yes."

Scorpius groaned audibly and Rose slumped in her seat. A trace of amusement flitted over Zabini's bitter features. "I'm so sorry if that bothers you," he said, not sounding sorry at all. "But today, you will both be organizing the detention files. It's quite an extensive task. Some poor sap started this task years and years ago, and I want you two to finish it."

He pointed his wand at the cabinet door and a large filing box slid out. "Get to work," Zabini snapped, striding out of the room.

Rose stood up awkwardly. "Well, we better get started."

Scorpius looked longingly at the door, which was firmly bolted shut. "S'pose so."

The two both began sorting through the yellowing index cards. The silence engulfed the room, for what seemed like hours. Rose jumped when Scorpius finally broke it: "Look at this."

"What?" Rose asked, reaching for the card. When she scanned the card, she laughed. "My parents and uncle and your dad. Wow."

Scorpius snickered. "I've got a whole stack of them. Some are just Potter and my dad."

"What did they do?" Rose asked eagerly.

Scorpius glanced at her. "A lot of them are because of fights."

Rose's eyes widened. "I can't picture my dad and Uncle Harry fighting anyone who wasn't a Death-Eater."

Scorpius shifted uncomfortably. Rose noticed and a flood of red washed over her face. "I mean, a bad Death-Eater."

Scorpius exhaled. "It's fine." He turned to look at her. "My dad did what he had to do. I'm not ashamed of him."

"You shouldn't be," Rose said softly. "He's not enemies with my dad and uncle anymore, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Scorpius said. He paused. "Do they ever talk about him at home?"

Rose shrugged. "Sometimes. None of it is complimentary, I'm afraid."

He laughed. "Likewise. My dad would be horrified if he knew I was having detention with a Weasley girl."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Not only that, but a half-Granger too!"

Scorpius smirked. "And I reckon your mum and dad wouldn't be too pleased either."

"My dad wouldn't be," Rose admitted. "But I don't think my mum would care too much."

He nodded absently, beginning to shift through the cards again.

"Why are you in detention, anyway?" Rose blurted, eager to keep talking.

He looked at her, surprised. "Er, no reason, really. I forgot my Potions homework. Zabini hates me. He was friends with my dad, so I thought he'd like me, but he hates his job so he's pissed at everyone." Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Anyway, what about you? I thought you were Miss Perfect or something."

She laughed. "I set off some fireworks. My uncle George sent some to me from his shop. He wanted _me_ to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of his escape from Hogwarts with Uncle Fred. He could have asked Roxeanne or James or Lily or Hugo or Albus but he asked me instead!" She flushed with pride.

Scorpius grinned at her. "That was you? That was great."

Rose blushed. "Thank you."

"What's it like growing up with two of the 'Golden Trio' as your parents and Harry bloody Potter as your uncle?" Scorpius asked suddenly.

Rose smirked. "Nobody really recognizes my parents, except for people who fought in that war. But everyone stares when we're with Uncle Harry. It's not that different though. James, Albus, and Lily get sick of it."

"I would too," Scorpius mused. "But then again, it's better than what it's like for me. Everyone hates my dad and grandpa. And my grand-mum's sister was Bellatrix Black. She was the evilest Death-Eater ever."

Rose frowned in sympathy. "But your grand-mum is a hero. If she had told Voldemort that Uncle Harry was still alive, we would have lost."

He laughed bitterly. "Rose, nobody remembers that. They remember that Harry Potter saved the day. The bit players are mainly forgotten. Especially ones like my grand-mum."

Rose shifted so that she was closer to Scorpius. "That's not right."

"Well," he shrugged. "That's the way it is."

"What is your dad like?" Rose asked curiously.

"He can be cold sometimes," Scorpius said slowly. "But he can also be really nice. He taught me to ride my broom," he added as an afterthought. "What's your dad like?"

"He's so goofy," Rose laughed. "He just has a really big heart."

Scorpius smiled at her. "Kind of like you, then."

She felt her ears warm. "Oh."

Scorpius also blushed, and turned away, shuffling with the cards.

While Rose was thinking of what to say next, the door slammed open. Professor Zabini was back, with an irritated expression plastered to his face.

"It's been two hours," Zabini said sourly. "You may leave."

He turned his back on Rose and Scorpius, who were awkwardly getting their things, each sneaking peeks at the other.

Once they were out of the dungeon, Scorpius glanced at Rose. "Well," he said abruptly. "See you around, I suppose."

Rose smiled wistfully. "Will you say hello to me in the halls?"

"Er, I dunno," Scorpius said hesitantly. "Will you?"

She looked down. "It would be rather difficult to explain to my friends why I was talking to you…"

Scorpius' mouth twisted but he nodded. "Yeah. Well." He trailed off and looked Rose in the eye. "I guess this is goodbye then?"

Rose smirked slightly. "Bye Scorpius. Maybe we'll have another detention together."

He laughed and started towards the Slytherin common room. "Later, Rose."

Rose stared after him for a second, and then blurted out, "Scorpius!"

He turned, his eyebrows raised. "Yeah?"

"I just," Rose started awkwardly. "I just wanted to apologize for assuming you were a jerk. I, I really had fun today."

Scorpius ran his fingers through his hair, grinning arrogantly. "Well, thanks. I'm sorry for writing you off as a horrible mix of Weasley-Granger."

Rose laughed and turned away, stealing one more glance over her shoulder. She knew as well as he did that a friendship between them wouldn't work, wasn't possible, but all the same, she wouldn't trade her afternoon of detention with him for the world.

And although she couldn't know for sure if he agreed, when she caught Scorpius looking over _his_ shoulder at her, she was fairly confident he felt the same way.


End file.
